Russia Labels Main LGBT Group ‘Foreign Agent’
Russia on Monday declared the main group defending LGBTQ rights a “foreign agent” on Monday, as part of a continuing crackdown on media outlets and rights groups. The ministry also declared several lawyers close to the Russian opposition “foreign agents.” The Russian LGBT Network, which was set up in 2006 and operates in several regions, […]
Failed by the healthcare system, transgender people find help elsewhere
For many transgender people, accessing gender-affirming care is a labyrinth of insurance coverage trap doors, referral letter hoops, and discriminatory falling axes. Social media and online communities are often the guiding threads out of the waiting room. Gender-affirming care is lifesaving. It has been shown to reduce the risk of suicide and increase the mental health and overall wellbeing […]
Married lesbian couple launch discrimination action against NHS
A married lesbian couple are launching a landmark legal test case against a branch of the NHS fertility sector in England, claiming it discriminates against LGBT+ families. Influencers Megan Bacon-Evans, 34, and her wife Whitney, 33, from Windsor in Berkshire, have accused their clinical commissioning group (CCG), Frimley, of penalising them financially because of their sexuality. The couple, […]
Iran: Gay couple sentenced to death for adultery after family demanded execution
After his father-in-law sought their execution, a married Iranian man and his male lover were given the death penalty for adultery. The couple, who are 27 and 33 years old, are expected to be hung, even though the man’s wife pleaded with the authorities to spare their lives. In Iranian law, persons convicted of a […]
China opens first clinic for transgender children
China has opened its first dedicated clinic for adolescents and children who wish to change their gender. The clinic, at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, will offer evaluations, diagnosis and interventions to help young people understand sexuality and improve family relations, according to state media. It will integrate clinical departments and “serve as a […]
Spain extends free IVF treatment to single women and LGBT+ community
Spain has extended the availability of free IVF treatment to single women and the LGBT+ community. Health minister Carolina Darias signed an order on Friday granting more women access to medically assisted reproduction in Spain’s public health system. The measure had long been demanded by LGBT+ rights groups that represent lesbian, bisexual, and trans people. […]
Furious LGBT+ football fans to protest Saudi-owned Newcastle United at Brighton showdown
LGBT+ football fans in Brighton will be demonstrating in support of a gay man jailed in Saudi Arabia when their team plays Newcastle United. The protest will target the Toon Army of travelling supporters outside the Amex Stadium’s away end and highlight the case of Suhail Al-Jameel. The 25-year-old was jailed two years ago for […]
Navy launches ship named for gay rights leader Harvey Milk
A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, who served four years in the Navy before being forced out, was christened and launched in San Diego Bay on Saturday. The replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk slid down the shipyard ways after a bottle of champagne was smashed on the bow by former […]
Discussion under way on how to improve transgender recognition and intersex policies in SA
A discussion on transgender and intersex policies for legal gender recognition and ending intersex genital mutilation took place on Thursday and will conclude today. The purpose of the dialogue is to shift South Africa from a particular model of gender recognition in the country that is pathologising and oppressive to gender-diverse persons. The current legal […]
Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ bill leads to surge in anti-LGBTQ violence
“The anti- LGBTQI bill in the Parliament of Ghana is fueling hate and emboldens homophobic individuals and groups to harm LGBTQ persons. The worrying part is that the perpetrators mostly go unpunished. We fear their actions may result in deaths soon if the police don’t act now,” says the LGBTQ advocacy group Rightify Ghana. “While […]
Spain extends free IVF treatment to single women and LGBT+ community
Spain has extended the availability of free IVF treatment to single women and the LGBT+ community. Health minister Carolina Darias signed an order on Friday granting more women access to medically assisted reproduction in Spain’s public health system. The measure had long been demanded by LGBT+ rights groups that represent lesbian, bisexual, and trans people. […]
Alleged leader of Bulgaria LGBTQ community center attack charged
Bulgarian authorities have charged an ultranationalist presidential candidate in connection with an attack against an LGBTQ community center. Media reports indicate Boyan Rasate, who leads the Bulgarian National Union, has been charged with hooliganism and infliction of injury in connection with the Oct. 30 attack against Rainbow Hub, an LGBTQ community center in the Bulgarian […]
‘Disgraceful’: Italy’s senate votes down anti-homophobic violence bill
Italy’s senate has killed off a bill that would have made violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime. The 315-member senate voted by 154 to 131 on Wednesday to block the debate on the law, named after the gay centre-left Democratic party (PD) legislator Alessandro Zan and previously […]
Gay Polish politician asks SF supervisors to reinstate Lech Walesa street name
A gay Polish politician is asking the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to reverse a street name change made seven years ago that saw a gay icon replace a former Polish president. On October 12, Robert Biedro?, a Polish member of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, wrote to the city’s supervisors requesting to revert Dr. […]
China LGBT rights group shuts down amid hostile environment
An LGBT advocacy group in China that has spearheaded many of the country’s legal cases pushing for greater rights is halting its work for the foreseeable future. LGBT Rights Advocacy China announced it was ceasing all activities and shutting down its social media accounts in an announcement on social media Thursday. “We are deeply regretful to tell everyone, Queer Advocacy […]
Texas Ruling Opens Route for Religious Carveouts to LGBT Rights
A Texas federal judge recently laid a path allowing for-profit businesses to use religion as a shield against LGBT anti-discrimination claims, but attorneys and academics question whether it’ll survive appellate review or make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s opinion—weighing in on several questions left unanswered by the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 decision in Bostock v. […]
COVID-19 pandemic could lead to HIV surge in West & Central Africa, says UNAIDS chief
DAKAR, Nov 3 (Reuters) – West and Central Africa could see a rise in HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in a few years due to disruptions in health services because of the coronavirus pandemic, the executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency said. Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related […]
NSW government announces inquiry into Sydney’s unsolved gay and transgender hate crimes, murders
The NSW government has announced an inquiry into brutal hates crimes committed against members of Sydney’s gay community over 40 years. In July 1989, 25-year-old newsreader Ross Warren disappeared from Sydney’s eastern suburbs. His car had been parked on a street near the popular gay beat Marks Park, and his keys were found at the […]
LGBT+ group left ‘frightened’ after queer Liverpool art viciously torn down in suspected hate crime
Homotopia – the UK’s longest-running LGBT+ arts and culture festival – said on social media it was “devastated” after two acts of vandalism just days apart. On Saturday (30 October), Homotopia reported that Rosa Kusabbi’s artwork “Hate Has No Place in Liverpool” was “ripped down” from its display in School Lane. Four days later, on […]
Mexico punished again for homophobic chant, will play more World Cup qualifiers without fans
Mexico’s men’s national soccer team will be forced to play two more World Cup qualifiers in empty stadiums after its fans continued yelling an anti-gay slur at matches in October. FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, previously sanctioned Mexico for the infamous “p***” chant. In June, it announced that the team’s first two home World Cup qualifiers would be […]
Penn State students condemn message of Milo Yiannopoulos’ ‘Pray the Gay Away’ event
“Pray the Gay Away.” These words, plastered on large posters above the face of British alt-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, greeted visitors at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center on Oct. 25 — and again on Thursday. Featured in prominent display cases in the HUB, tacked to poster boards, announcement forums and walls throughout campus buildings, and […]
Stitching gender and untold stories
New Delhi, Nov 3 He goes back a few decades a time when as a child he could not take his eyes off whenever his older sisters stitched diverse patterns with multiple coloured threads. He says the finished garment would ‘say’ a lot to him things tough for a child to express. “I would never […]
The Better Lives Project to educate on intersex variations
The Better Lives Project has been launched to educate midwives and parents about the needs of children born with variations of sex characteristics. Intersex is the umbrella term used for people with variations of sex characteristics. The project is a joint initiative of Working it Out and Intersex Peer Support Australia and is funded by […]
‘The Taliban has a kill list’ for the Afghan LGBT community, NGO says
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan at the end of August the persecution of the country’s LGBT+ community has ramped up, forcing many to live in hiding, fearing for their lives. “We now know for sure the Taliban has a ‘kill list’,” said the head of the Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian NGO helping under-threat […]
Supreme Court turns down Northern California Catholic hospital appeal over transgender patient
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is declining to wade into a case involving transgender rights and leaving in place a lower court decision against a Catholic hospital that wouldn’t allow a transgender man to have a hysterectomy there. The high court turned away the case Monday without comment, as is typical. Three conservative justices — […]
‘I feel invisible’: The challenges of being trans in Nigeria
Tom Kola was five years old when he realised he was a boy. But it took more than two decades and a move halfway across the world before he would have an official document to prove it. Growing up in Nigeria, Tom did not have the language to articulate his trans identity. But he understood […]
Watch: Activists in Poland are fighting back against so-called ‘LGBT-free zones’
So-called ‘LGBT-free’ zones have made Poland the laughing stock of Europe. But it’s no joke for LGBTQ+ people who face physical attack and verbal abuse – even from their own president. Activists are now leading a fightback that is showing signs of success.
LGBTQ Activists Create Día de Muertos Altar To Honor Trans Victims Who Died While in ICE Custody
As many of us sit down with friends and family to celebrate Día de Muertos, and honor those we’ve lost, it’s also an important reminder to honor those beyond our close circle and remember the many victims of violence and poverty around the world. That’s exactly what one group of activists recently did outside Immigration […]
‘I’m tired of feeling invisible’: Italian bill’s rejection leaves LGBT+ community in anger
For many in Italy’s LGBT+ community, the rejection of a bill meant to ban discrimination has been viewed as a step backwards on the already-fraught road to equality. Fabio Perna, a 33-year-old gay man living in the Northern Italian town of Rimini, said he was left feeling deeply distressed by the Italian Senate’s rejection of […]
LGBTQ Afghans, who were in ‘grave danger’ from the Taliban, evacuated to the UK
A flight of LGBT Afghans arrived in the UK, following a mission from the government and gay rights organizations to move them to safety, it was confirmed. Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, several governments, NGOs, and charities have been working on getting people out of Afghanistan who may be vulnerable under the […]